


Your Eyes Caught Mine

by aweewah



Category: Bandom, Bring Me The Horizon, Real Person Fiction
Genre: Cute, F/M, First Meetings, Love, Winter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-17
Updated: 2013-10-21
Packaged: 2017-12-29 16:00:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,548
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1007321
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aweewah/pseuds/aweewah
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>As much as it's nice to be getting ready for the holidays, it's also a time for high school students to pile up their books and study for finals. Oli Sykes is unfortunately one of them and he's decided to step it up and head to the public library every day to actually study. However, he doesn't have his own car to get there and has resorted to taking the bus.</p><p>That's when he sees her.</p><p>She was standing at the bus stop and smiled at him, causing Oli to even smile back. The two share a held gaze and ever since that small moment between them, her look has been imprinted in his mind and he can't stop thinking about this girl.</p><p>A million people board public transportation on their regular weekday.</p><p>How is that out of a million people, her eyes were the ones that caught his?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Not Just Any Look

It was a cold winter afternoon when he first saw her.  
  
Fall was finally gone and winter was gradually taking its place. Snow was lightly falling from the cloudy sky and people were bundling up to prepare for the season. Not only that, but they were also getting ready for the busy month of December. The change in weather was also a reminder that the holidays were coming and there were only a few weeks left. However, this month wasn't always fun and games, especially for those who still had to focus on school.  
  
Oli Sykes was a senior in high school and he had other things to worry about besides buying presents and decorating trees. There were four weeks until the holidays and three weeks until finals, so obviously he was thinking more about finals. He couldn't slack off like he usually did the years before, especially since the classes he had taken this year graded harder and pretty much all his finals were going to be worth about fifteen percent of his grade. It definitely would be bad for his transcript and he actually planned on going to college, so yeah. Failing wasn't an option. Whoever told him that senior year was the easiest year was a dumbass.  
  
He realized that the reason for his lack of studying had to do with him being at home. There were too many distractions and if he wanted to focus, the first thing he had to do was change his work environment. What better place to be at than the library? That was actually the place he should have been going to in the first place. Then again, there was that very annoying problem of him not having a car to drive there.  
  
His car was currently being repaired and he couldn't ask to carpool with his friends. The whole reason why he was going to the library was to be  _away_  from distractions, not bring them. Since he was going after school, his parents couldn't really drive him there either because they'd still be at work. That left Oli the only—and undesirable—option to take public transportation, which he was not looking forward to and probably dreaded more than studying. He didn't want to use his money to buy a stupid bus pass, he didn't want to walk a mile just to get to the bus, and he didn't want to be crammed onto a crowded bus with a fuck load of strangers.  
  
Once these thoughts came up, he mentally slapped himself. He was over-exaggerating and was pretty much trying to convince himself why he shouldn't go to the library. These thoughts needed to go away and he had to stop making all these excuses because as much as he didn't want to, he  _was_  going to fucking study and pass these fucking finals. He had a plan and he was going to stick to it.  
  
So he told his parents where he was going to be for the next few weeks and needless to say, they approved of this. Really, would they want to stop their son from wanting to do good in school?  
  
He reluctantly got a bus pass and looked up the route that went to the library, finding out that he wouldn't really have to walk as far as he thought he would. From school, he had to walk maybe ten minutes to the stop and then he'd be on the bus. No big deal, it was all pretty straight forward so far. It kind of amazed him how he was really sticking to his plan.  
  
The first Monday of December was when he started going. Once the bell rang, he got the books he needed out of his locker, put them in his backpack and then headed off. He was glad he dressed warmer than usual because it was pretty cold outside, reminding him that winter really was back. Putting his hands in the pockets of his jacket, Oli continued walking to his destination and tried his best to ignore the weather. It seemed like it took him a while because it was only his first time, but he finally made it to the bus stop and if only he knew what he was really going to be in for when he got there.  
  
To his surprise there was only one person waiting there: a girl.  
  
This girl looked around his age, but he never saw her around school before. Still, that was only if she actually attended the same school he did. There were a lot of people at his school, so it was a possibility that they just never passed by each other in the hallways. She could've also been a new student or maybe she just went to another school. He didn't know. All he knew was that she was also waiting at the bus stop.  
  
She was wearing a dark gray pea coat that was buttoned all the way up and a black wool scarf was wrapped around her neck. Her hands were kept warm by the black gloves that matched and she had on faded black skinny jeans and wore calf length combat boots. What really caught his attention was her striking red hair that contrasted with the gray knitted slouchy beanie on her head and the rest of her outfit. In fact, her hair was more orange than red and it was obvious that this wasn't her natural hair color.  
  
When Oli walked closer to the bus stop, she turned her head and looked at him. He noticed her green eyes and couldn't help but look at them. Without even realizing it, he was staring at her but the girl didn't seem to think this was creepy. Instead, she smiled at him and showed her teeth a little. This made his eyes look at her smile and he noticed a little gap in between her two front teeth.  
  
He immediately darted his attention back to her eyes when it occurred to him that he was focusing too much on her features and he just smiled back while trying to hide his embarrassment. All she did was smile wider and laughed to herself, slightly amused by him. Thankfully, the bus arrived at that moment and she gave him one last glance before heading inside.  
  
Oli got on as well and went straight for the back to avoid sitting near her. He looked outside the window and leaned his head against it. Looking at the buildings that the bus passed was a way to keep himself from looking over to where she was sitting. And yet, he found himself doing it again, looking down the aisle of the bus. As he looked at her, he couldn't help but have her laugh in his head. The laugh that escaped from her lips, the same lips that curved into a smile as she looked at him with those green eyes.  
  
What was it about her look that made him so distracted? She was just a girl and all they did was smile at each other. They didn't even  _talk_  to each other.  
  
 _It was nothing special,_  he told himself. He then reached into his backpack and got out one of his textbooks to study the material that he was supposed to memorize. Pushing aside all his thoughts of her, he was finally able to read and concentrate. Though this only lasted for a few minutes because before he knew it, the bus had come to a stop and he looked up to see that he was where he needed to be. Getting out of his seat, he saw that she had gotten up, too. Apparently, this girl was also planning to go to the library and he tried his best to ignore this fact. Once out the bus, he continued to make his way inside.  
  
He had never really been to the library before and the first thing that came to his mind when he finally saw it was how huge this place was. The library had not one, not two, but  _five_ stories and there were even elevators and everything. Oli was most likely going to get lost in this place during his study time, which is why the first thing he did was ask for help on the different places in the library. He eventually found out that there were numerous study spaces located throughout the floors, so at least he didn't have to worry about where to sit. Most of the tables on the first few floors were occupied and he finally settled with an empty table on the fourth floor. He sat down on a chair at the end of the table and took off his jacket since it was warm in there. After he took out all his books, his pencils and pens, and his notebooks, he at last had started his study session.  
  
But just as he started writing down notes, he heard the sound of a bag being put onto the table and it made him look up. He couldn't believe it when he saw who it was because right there across from him on the other side of the table was the same girl from the bus stop. Of all places in this five story building, she had ended up sitting at his table. He automatically smiled at her when she sat down and as soon as she recognized who he was, she gave him that same smile she had given him earlier.  
  
Like him, she also took off her coat and reached into her tote bag to take out a textbook and her notebook. She was still smiling and Oli''s smile was also on his face as he continued writing. Every few minutes, her eyes would look up from what she was doing to glance at him and he would do the same, both of them finding this coincidence interesting. There were so many places she could've sat, yet she ended up sitting at the very same table he happened to be sitting at.  
  
What were the odds of that happening?

 

* * *

 

The next day, Oli was more comfortable with his routine now that he knew exactly where to go. He actually went to the bus stop faster than the day before, hoping to see her again. He didn't even know why, he just wanted to see her. But when he got to the bus stop, nobody was there. At first, he just thought it was because he came earlier, but as minutes passed, she still hadn't come.  
  
Then the bus came. A frown crossed his face as the doors of the bus opened and he looked left and right one more time to see if she was coming. Still nobody. Sighing to himself, he got onto the bus and looked out the window again until he was at the library. It still confused him why he was disappointed about this. She was just a girl and it wasn't like she did anything fantastic that would make him want to keep seeing her. Just a normal girl, that was it. What was up with him?  
  
He already slipped off his jacket when he came through the entrance, liking how he was able to immediately warm up from the heat that the building provided. He took the elevator up to the fourth floor, having established that the table he sat at before was going to be his "spot" every time he went there. Also, he didn't really want to find another spot in that library because that'd take too much time. Hey, if he was going to be there for the next few weeks, he might as well get comfortable. But when he finally made it to his table, he found that it was already taken. By  _her_.  
  
She was in the same seat and surrounded by a few open textbooks while already having written a page of notes. Her bright orange hair was up in a high ponytail and in her free hand, she was holding a thermos. It looked like she had been there for a while. Maybe an hour or so. Oli, who had stopped in his tracks for a moment, started walking again and sat down at his own seat. He did this with a smile, of course, and she looked up for a moment and grinned. It was almost as if her eyes were saying, "Hey, glad you could finally make it."  
  
He once again found himself looking into her eyes. The disappointment that had taken over him earlier had also disappeared and he kept that smile on his face from the moment he pulled out his books from his bag to the moment he stepped out that library to go back home. For some reason, just seeing that girl smile and look at him made his day. That alone was what mostly pushed him to keep going to the library.  
  
For the rest of the week, this had become some sort of routine. Every day, he would head to the bus stop and she would be standing there to make eye contact with him. To him, it always felt like they made conversation with the way they looked at each other and he liked it. This continued on when they went to the library. That very same table on the fourth floor was always taken by them, whether it be him to sit down first or her. When one of them was already at the table and the other had finally arrived, they'd silently greet each other with glances and smiles. As the days passed, he had found it even more difficult to stop thinking about her. During school, all he looked forward to was going to the bus stop to see her. The both of them also seemed to stay at the library longer each time and all they liked to do was study and gaze at each other.  
  
When the first week of his studying was close to ending, he realized that as much as he liked seeing this girl whenever he went to this place, there was one thing he still hadn't done. He had  _never_  talked to her.  
  
Despite seeing her every day, he wasn't sure how he would talk to her. Would she want to talk to him? Would she even like talking to him once he started the conversation? What if he had nothing to talk about? What if she thought of him differently after they finally talk? What if he thought of her differently as well? These questions overwhelmed him and it made him feel like he should just forget about trying to talk to her. Maybe it was better if he stayed quiet.  
  
It was Friday. Oli was pretending to read the textbook that was open in front of him. He had an elbow propped up on the table and his head was resting on his knuckles. He had on his headphones and though he had his head down to look like he was reading, he was really looking across the table at her. She also had on headphones and was flipping through her textbook and jotting down notes, obviously more into her work than he was. He had so many chances to talk to her and he really wanted to talk to her at that moment, but he still doubted himself and those annoying questions would pop up again.  
  
So instead, he looked back down at his book and his eyelids started to drop. He suddenly felt tired and thought about sleeping. After all, it had been a long week and he was working hard and staying late at the library, so of course he'd be tired. He needed the rest and let his eyes close. Sleep was more important and she looked busy anyway. He couldn't talk to her…  
  
 _No._  
  
His eyes snapped open and he sat up in his seat and took out his headphones. There was nothing for him to be afraid of and all those questions that had bothered him were a load of bullshit. He was making things harder than they should be and he got up from his chair and walked around the study space to go near her side of the table. Since she had on headphones, she hadn't noticed him get up and was still engaged in her books.  
  
He had seen this girl every day for five days and she always looked at him whenever she saw him. Out of all the people in the library, she chose to sit near him and she seemed to talk to him with her eyes. He was going to talk to her.  
  
Oli was then behind the girl, watching her for a moment before taking one tentative step forward. He hesitated a little, but took a deep breath and managed to calm his nerves. Once he took that deep breath, he walked up to her and tapped her on the shoulder. Feeling the tap on the shoulder, she took one headphone out and turned to face him. Seeing that it was him, her lips curved into that smile that he liked so much.  
  
"Hi," he felt himself relax and was once again able to smile back at her. "I think it's about time I finally introduce myself."  
  
His voice got less nervous the more he talked and he started to feel more confident. All those questions that had filled his head before had diminished and he held out a hand to her.  
  
"I'm Oli."


	2. I Feel Happier

Oli still couldn't believe that he had finally built up the courage to talk to her. Even though he didn't expect to really do it, he was glad he did. He didn't regret it at all because he thought of talking to her ever since he saw her.  
  
She took his hand and shook it. "It's nice to meet you, Oli."  
  
It was strange to hear her voice. The closest he had ever been to hearing her before this was when he heard her laugh on Monday, but that was nothing compared to how her voice really sounded. It was smooth and since they were in the library, she was speaking softly. She had only spoken a few words and he already replayed her voice inside his head.  
  
The girl told him her name and then offered him to sit down next to her. The moment he sat down in the seat, he knew exactly how he was going to spend his Friday and she knew it, too. It was the weekend and they were both high school students. Anybody their age would rather go out to a party, or the movies, or the mall. Teenagers would've wanted to be _anywhere_  but the library, but not them.  
  
"So," she leaned in closer to him. "I think it doesn't need to be said that I've seen you around here before.  
  
"Really? Because I've never seen you in my life," Oli teased. "I just thought I'd to go up to a random stranger and say hello to them."  
  
She laughed at his words. "I guess you're right on that part about us being strangers. But that doesn't apply now."  
  
"Yeah," he nodded and smiled. "It doesn't."  
  
"What made you want to talk to me?"  
  
"I…" Oli tried to figure out how he would answer.  
  
He knew the reason. On Monday, he thought of it as just an encounter with some girl. Then, he found out that she was going to library and for that, he shrugged it off as some coincidence. But when she ended up being the one to sit across the table from him? Maybe it was a coincidence or maybe it wasn't, but that library probably had a million people visit every year. Of all places for her to sit, she sat near him. And then she came back to that same spot the very next day and continued to do that for the rest of the week. All the while, there was that look that she shared with him. Not just any look. A look that was imprinted in his mind and always caused him to smile. He then thought that maybe it really wasn't a coincidence. Maybe it was something  _more_.  
  
But was he really going to tell her this? That wasn't something you would normally say to a girl you've just met, unless you wanted to make her think you were weird and creepy. He'd have to answer her differently.  
  
"We've been sitting across from each other for the past few days," he simply said. "I just thought it would be nice to finally talk to you."  
  
Before he knew it, more words came out his mouth. "To be honest, I've wanted to talk to you since that first day I saw you."  
  
The realization of what he just said hit him and he felt the urge to get out of his seat and just walk away because he didn't mean to say that to her. However, she didn't look at him funny or think what he said was weird and instead grinned again. She looked down for a moment and brushed her side swept bangs out of her face, her cheeks flushed a light pink. She was blushing?  
  
"But let me guess," she faced him again. "You were too afraid to talk to me at first."  
  
"Exactly," Oli said.  
  
"Well, you wanna know a secret?"  
  
"Yeah, what?"  
  
She pushed aside the notebook that was in her way to lean in even closer to him. When she was close enough to him, she spoke in almost a whisper. "I've also wanted to talk to you since the first day and I was also afraid."  
  
Oli blinked a few times before his own cheeks started to turn pink. Like him, this girl had thought of speaking to him and he didn't even think she would actually want to. After all, the first day, he was just staring at her like an idiot. She also didn't seem like the type to be afraid. It was understandable how he was one to be afraid to talk to her because he had shown it, but he couldn't recall ever seeing her show hints that she would be scared.  
  
"Is that so?" he managed to say. "It's a good thing I decided to speak up then."  
  
"I was kinda relieved that you did."  
  
"You should've seen me earlier before I talked to you," he laughed. "I was terrified."  
  
At that, she laughed along with him and they both didn't care if they seemed too loud or not. Finding out that the both of them were afraid to talk one another made them relax a little and feel less stupid. When they were done laughing, they were silent for a bit. Only, it wasn't awkward silence and they stood there with wide smiles on their faces.  
  
 _It **had**  to be something more than just some coincidence._  
  
Oli sighed and leaned back in his seat. "How about you and I take a little study break for now? After working so hard and staying quiet all week, I think we deserve it."  
  
Her green eyes lit up and she nodded. "Yeah, I'd like that."  
  
This was how they were going to spend their Friday night.  
  
Their so-called "study break" went on for the rest of the night, and they did nothing but talk. He learned more about her after she told him the things she liked to do and how her life at home was. As she talked, he simply listened and was interested in every word and every action. He was looking at her lips and liked the way they looked as she said the words, the way she made them sound. She also had a habit of talking with her hands a lot and he found himself watching her movements, especially when she talked about something she had a passion for.  
  
One of her passions was singing and she told him that she liked to write her own songs. She even planned to form a band, which he thought was amazing. That was when he told her that he also wrote his own songs and had dreams of maybe starting a band of his own. She seemed excited at the fact that they both shared the same dream and even suggested that they could start a band together.  
  
He tried to imagine what she sounded like when she sang. Maybe some day he would be able to hear her singing voice. If it was anything like the way she talked, he was sure he'd want to listen to her all the time.  
  
They decided to mess around and attempt to write a song together, though the more they threw in random ideas, the less serious the song sounded. It wasn't really meant to be serious in the first place anyway.  
  
"Let's make it completely metaphorical."  
  
"And it should also be a sappy love song."  
  
Oli's notebook was open and the both of them were sitting closer to each other and scribbling in it. The page was halfway full with writing and covered in pencil smudges and eraser shavings. At this point, their "song" consisted of everything you could ever find in a song.  
  
"We also need to make it really catchy," she said as she began writing down again.  
  
"Good point," he said. "Let's throw in a rap verse."  
  
The girl couldn't help but giggle. "Okay, as long as it's fun to dance to. What should our rap be about?"  
  
"Hmmm," Oli pretended to be deep in thought. "Since we're basically writing the greatest song ever, we oughta rap about magical creatures."  
  
She found it even harder to not laugh. "Magical creatures?"  
  
"Of course," Oli picked up his pencil again and then started doodling on the page. "For instance, here's a unicorn."  
  
"If you're going to rap about a unicorn," she then started drawing on the page as well and added to Oli's poorly drawn sketch of a unicorn. "You could at least give it wings."  
  
"There's only one more thing we need to add," he drew music notes coming out of the unicorn's mouth. "There, it sings. But if we want our song to be a big hit, I might have to give it auto-tune."  
  
The girl couldn't keep quiet any longer and burst into laughter, which caused Oli to start laughing out loud, too. She clamped her hand over her mouth to not seem too loud while he did the same. The two were unable to stop laughing, finding Oli's joke funnier than it should've been. This did not slide well with people who were sitting in the tables near them.  
  
One guy in particular put his finger to his lips and simply told them to shut up and they thought this was kind of amusing due to the guy saying it in a polite way. They looked at each other and humorously copied his gesture, also putting their fingers to their lips.  
  
It was almost as if they were little kids again, messing around and doing anything but studying. Because the library was so big, they got up from their table and explored the place. One moment they're sitting in the middle of a book aisle, reading stories to each other. The next moment they're sneaking into one of the piano practice rooms, teaching each other new songs to play. When they were back at the table, they made drawings for each other and she even took a sharpie out of her bag and wrote some lyrics on his hand. These were all random things, yet they had a lot of fun spending time together and learned more about each other.  
  
They were too busy having fun, they didn't even realize that the library was closing soon. After finally checking the time, they gathered their stuff and put their coats back on. Even though they didn't want to, they both had to head home. Oli was getting picked up by his mother while she was still taking the bus.  
  
She rode the elevator with him and while they were in their together, she linked her arm with his. He tried to play it off like it was nothing, but he ended up blushing again. To avoid her catching him, he just stared straight ahead, grinning to himself.  
  
"So much for being productive," she joked when they were outside. "But it was nice hanging out with you."  
  
"It was fun," Oli said. "And it was nice to finally talk to you."  
  
She ran a hand through her hair, giving him a better view of her eyes and her smile. Her eyes appeared to light up again and he was once again gazing into them as they both fell silent. A strand of her hair was still in front of her eye and he felt the urge to move it out of her face, but he stopped himself and kept his hands in his pockets. Just then, a car pulled up in front of the library and he saw that it was his mother.  
  
"Will I see you again?" the girl finally asked.  
  
 _She wants to see me again._  Oli remembered that they had exchanged numbers earlier. It amazed him how much had happened in the last few hours. Just a few hours ago they were strangers and here she was asking him if they'll see each other again. The answer was obvious.  
  
"Definitely," he nodded. He backed away to head to the car while she was about to go the other direction.  
  
"Tomorrow?"  
  
For a moment, he could've sworn he felt his heart skip a beat.  
  
"Yeah. Tomorrow."

 

* * *

 

For the next week, they had spent every day together after that night.  
  
Of course, they still made time to study, but it wasn't just at the library anymore. Sometimes they would sit together in the local coffee shop, writing notes and reading books as always. As days were counting down to the holidays, their surroundings were more festive and made their days better. Not that their days weren't already better anyway.  
  
Eventually, she got more comfortable around him and finally let him hear her sing. She sounded better than he had ever imagined and he immersed himself in the sound of her voice. When she sang, her voice sounded fresh and vibrant with energetic high tones and it mesmerized him. With the way she sang, he knew that her dreams of starting a band would become a reality real quick.  
  
Oli wanted to keep spending his days with her. He couldn't really remember the last time he was this happy, but that's how she made him feel and he couldn't deny any longer that he was falling for her.  
  
They had went to the park by the end of the week. Despite the park being slightly covered in snow, the scenery was still beautiful and they were tired of always being indoors. It didn't matter if it was a little cold, they liked the fresh air and all that mattered was that he was with her. She thought it was a good day for them to take pictures together, so she brought a digital camera and a tripod. She had told him that she wanted to capture the moments of them together.  
  
With each shot they took, he was grinning widely and she had her arms wrapped around him. Then without thinking, he leaned in and kissed her on the cheek.  
  
She just looked surprised, but it wasn't like she was shocked. It was like she had  _wanted_  to receive that from him. Her first response, of course, was to playfully push his face away and run away for him to chase her. Laughing, he went after her and pretended to tag her and quickly turned around to run away. When she caught up to him, she jumped on his back and he was more than happy to carry her.  
  
That was what he liked to do. He liked to have these silly moments with her and was glad he could really be himself. It was fun for them to chase each other in the snow, it was fun to be taking pictures with her, and it was great to know that he had met her.  
  
He took her to the pond to feed the ducks and the pond was actually frozen, yet the ducks were standing on top of the ice. In Oli's hand, he held the bag of bread crumbs and threw them toward the ducks for them to eat. She smiled at the site of them and her attention them focused on him. Oli stared back at her and suddenly began leaning in forward. Or was she leaning forward? He didn't know and he didn't care. As her face got closer to his, he closed his eyes…  
  
…And woke up.  
  
It took him a few moments to realize where he was when his eyes snapped open. When he finally regained consciousness, he noticed he was in the library. His headphones were on, he was resting his head on the knuckle of his hand, and a textbook was in front of him. It was Friday night again and he had come to realize what had happened: it was all a dream.  
  
He looked up and frowned when he saw that nobody was in the seat across from him. She had left and he still had not talked to this girl. They never had a conversation and he didn't even get to say hello to her. All of that had simply been his imagination and he blankly stared at the empty chair. He had dreamed of meeting this girl, getting to know her, and falling for her.  
  
In reality, they were still just strangers.


	3. Serendipity

He didn't see her anymore.  
  
When Oli came to the bus stop the following Monday, she wasn't there. He just assured himself that it was one of those days where she was already at the library. He was sure that she would be there. She always was.  
  
But he had arrived at the library and got to his usual spot, only to come to an empty table. He looked around in hopes of seeing her, even if he didn't know where else she would be. Perhaps she was a little late and he came before her this time. In about a few minutes, he'd be hearing the sound of her bag being set down and he'd look up to see her taking off that gray pea coat of hers and they would exchange glances.  
  
Ten minutes passed. He went back to looking around and kept telling himself that she would be there soon. Sure, she was going to be later than she usually was, but she had to be on her way, right? Once she got there, he would finally be able to talk to her.  _Really_  talk to her.  
  
Twenty minutes passed. Oli looked down at his watch and stared across the table. The chair was still empty, but he still wanted to think that she would be there. It was only twenty minutes and sometimes people were late. She could've missed the bus or maybe she had to run an errand or something. He went back to focusing on his textbook.  
  
Thirty minutes passed. He was practically forcing himself to keep reading, but all he did was skim through the paragraphs and mindlessly flipped the pages. The girl still hadn't come.  
  
Forty minutes passed. Then forty became fifty and fifty became an hour. At this point, Oli didn't think about studying anymore. He just sat there, looking around and was tapping his pencil on the table. He had come to the conclusion that she wasn't going to be there.  
  
Eventually, another girl took her seat. He tried making eye contact with this new girl, but it wasn't quite the same. Her eyes did not light up and her lips were far from smiling. Even when she saw that he was looking at her, her expression made it clear that she was a little creeped out by this. The new girl averted her eyes and picked up her bag and books, leaving the table. It definitely wasn't the same.  
  
Oli spent his next study nights not studying at all. He continued to go to the library, becoming more disappointed each day when he saw that she still hadn't shown up. He wandered around the library to explore places on his own since that was the only thing he could think of doing. He walked through aisles and aisles of books, went up and down the elevator, and stopped at all five stories of the building. These were all attempts to get her off his mind, but they did the exact opposite.  
  
He was wondering where she was and what she was doing. He wondered why she never came anymore and wondered if she'd ever start coming again or if she'd still sit near him if she did. Most of all, he wondered how things would've been if he actually talked to her when he had the chance. He  _should've_  talked to her. The week before he had been too afraid and hesitated too much. And what happened? He had only dreamt of talking to her and now she wasn't even around anymore. But he had to deal with that since nobody was really holding him back from talking to her. The only person that held him back was himself.  
  
There was no use in dwelling on it. He shouldn't be moping over some girl that he didn't know. Finals were in a few days and he had to get back into studying again. If he didn't let this go, he wouldn't be ready for next week and that would mean he spent all that time in the library for nothing. He couldn't waste his time waiting for this girl anymore.  
  
After accepting that he wasn't going to see that girl again, Oli was once again focused. Not only did he study at the library, but he continued to study when he got home. He sometimes skipped lunch at school to study and if he had enough time, he'd study in the morning.  
  
The week of finals came. He had studied anything that could help him on his tests and he had memorized the chapters, the vocab, everything. It was due to his hard work in the last few days and he hoped that all that time studying was worth it. He wanted to succeed and he was going to make it into a good college. He believed he deserved it.  
  
Apparently, all that studying  _did_  pay off because he thought all his finals weren't even that hard. He felt like he knew everything and went through the questions and essay questions with ease. Every final he had didn't scare him because for the first time in his life, he was actually prepared. This continued until he had finished his last final and was finally on winter break. His big study session plan had come to an end.  
  
Yet, he didn't feel quite happy. Shouldn't he be happy? He just finished finals and the holidays were coming, so he should be glad that he could finally relax and take a break from school. It just felt like there was something still bothering him.  
  
But deep down, he knew what was bothering him. Deep down, he still thought about that girl and the reasons behind his hard work was because he had tried more than ever to forget about her, but he couldn't. He still wanted to think that his encounter with her was more than a coincidence. He wished that he could see her again, even if it was only for a few minutes just so he could finally speak to her.  
  
 _I guess things weren't meant to be._

* * *

 

It was two days before Christmas and Oli was at the store because his parents had asked him to pick up a few things for the dinner they were going to have tomorrow evening. He had finally gotten his car back and he didn't mind heading out for a few minutes. It was weird how fast the month had gone by and he couldn't believe that Christmas was already here.  
  
He walked through the aisles of the grocery store, a basket in one hand and the list of things he had to get in the other. He usually didn't go to the store, so it took him a while to find the stuff. He kind of wished he went with his mother all those times when he was a little kid because then he'd have gotten these things a lot quicker.  
  
Oli was concentrating so much on the list that he wasn't watching where he was going. Suddenly, he bumped into someone, causing him to drop the basket. The other person's basket fell as well and all the food that was in the two baskets had scattered on the floor.  
  
When he saw that he made the other person also drop their stuff, he panicked a little. "Shit! I'm so sorry, I-"  
  
Words had failed to come out his mouth when he looked up to face the person he had run into. He was surprised to find himself looking into a pair of green eyes. The person looked back at him, their vivid orange hair falling in front of their face, giving Oli a look that showed they were just as surprised as he was.  
  
It was her.  
  
He still struggled to say anything. What was he to say? Did she recognize him, too? He didn't expect this to happen at all.  
  
"Hi," he finally said.  
  
"Hi," she said back, still unable to keep herself from looking at him.  
  
She was actually standing right in front of him. He wasn't sure if this was even really happening, but when he felt the pinch he gave himself, it told him he wasn't just having another one of his dreams. He hadn't seen her in two weeks and never thought he would ever see her again, but here she was.  
  
He bent down to help pick up the things she had dropped and she did the same for him. They gathered the things in silence and once everything was cleaned up, they were back to looking at each other.  
  
"Thank you," she smiled at him.  
  
"No problem," he bit his lip. "Look, I don't know if you remember me, but I'm-  
  
"You're the guy that I used to stand at the bus stop with," she finished. "And we used to sit across from each other at the library."  
  
Oli slowly nodded. "Yeah. That's, uh, that's me."  
  
She smirked at him. "I remember you. You always smiled at me and I thought that was nice. I'm going to be honest with you, I wanted to talk to you but I was too scared to really do it."  
  
"Really?" Oli still couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Well, that's exactly how I felt. I wanted to talk to you, too."  
  
The girl smiled and laughed, the sound of her laughter echoing in Oli's head. It seemed like it had been forever since he heard her laugh. With all that was said, he could've sworn he was dreaming again because they had said the same things he had imagined them saying. What he really couldn't get over, though, was how her voice sounded exactly the way she sounded in his dream. But no, this time it was real. He was finally talking to this girl that he had happened to see at the bus stop. Out of hundreds of people in the library, she sat across from him. And just now, they had run into each other at the grocery store after two weeks of not seeing each other. Coincidence? No, this wasn't a coincidence.  
  
"I was going to grab a cup of coffee after this," she slightly tilted her head as she looked up at him. "How about we both go to the coffee shop and talk there?"  
  
"Yeah," he agreed. "I'd really like that."  
  
They walked together down the aisle, the both of them with smiles on their faces. The same smiles they had given each other all those times they were in the library. He stopped for a moment and held out a hand to her.  
  
"I never did get to introduce myself," he said. "I'm Oliver Sykes, but you can call me Oli."  
  
She reached out to shake his hand. "It's nice to meet you, Oli. I'm Hayley."  
  
At that moment, it seemed like there was a glimmer in her eye and he felt his heart beating at the sight of that look that always made him happy.  
  
"Hayley Williams."  
  
He smiled wider. "It's nice to meet you, Hayley. Now let's get out of here."  
  
They paid for their groceries and headed out the doors. While they both walked toward the parking lot, she moved closer to him and linked her arm with his. They were no longer strangers after being brought together by something beyond a coincidence. It wasn't a coincidence.  
  
It  _was_  something more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to anyone who has read this story. Comments are very appreciated!


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